Author Topic: Another New Alembic Owner (Read 458 times)

lowlife · « **on:** December 27, 2003, 05:55:57 AM »

Palying bass for me has always been just a passtime, a way to unwind at the end of a long day, and the thought of owing the Rolls Royce of basses was beyond my comprehension. I've owned a Jazz bass for years, which has served me well. But this year, cause I've been such a good boy, I decided to make a dream come true. I purchased an Excel 4 (that's what is printed on the invoice) that has the most amazing tone and feel. Looks like my Jazz bass is destined to collect some dust.
So perhaps someone can enlighten me. The pics in the catalogue and the website for the Excel 4 do not look like the bass that I bought; any ideas or enlightenment would be most welcome.

bracheen · « **Reply #1 on:** December 27, 2003, 06:43:25 AM »

Hello, Ellery, welcome to the club. Looks like an Excel to me. If you post the s/n, Mica or Val can give you the lowdown on it.
Congratulations on your aquisition. It is a beautiful instrument. Is it new? I know you're enjoying it even if your Jazz does get jealous.
What a good way to unwind. I love the Taylor guitar ad that says Before I started playing guitar to relieve stress my wife never complimented me on how much my drinking had improved.

Sam

David Houck · « **Reply #2 on:** December 27, 2003, 06:45:09 AM »

Hi Ellery; welcome to the group and congrats on your acquisition of a very nice looking Alembic. Is that a Walnut top? Yes, it appears to be an Excel with an optional pickup configuration. The standard setup is one Fatboy pickup with volume, bass and treble controls. Your bass appears to have an MXY and a Fatboy pickup with the addition of a Pan control. Did you purchase this bass new? Rami has an Excel with this setup pictured here:
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/1436.html?1050497852

David Houck · « **Reply #3 on:** December 27, 2003, 06:50:53 AM »

Sam, I love the quote! Thanks!

elzie · « **Reply #4 on:** December 27, 2003, 07:22:39 AM »

From one Excel owner to another, welcome aboard!

You have discovered one of the cool things about Alembic: They will custome build anything! That is indeed an Excel, and a nice one at that. Go to the showcase section of this site and look up the Excel threads. There you can see Rami's wonderful collection

Paul TGO

jet_powers · « **Reply #5 on:** December 27, 2003, 07:32:08 AM »

Welcome to the club. A very pretty bass you've got there. You've many hours of joy in front of you.....

Paul TJO

lowlife · « **Reply #6 on:** December 27, 2003, 09:59:47 AM »

For those of your who were kind enough to post, thanks for the welcome! Yes, I bought it new. I'm not a wood expert, and in my judgment, the salesreps at the local dealer wouldn't know the difference between walnut and cork. Apparently, the rule of thumb is if the axe has a 4-digit price tag, then it must be some kind of exotic wood. One the posts suggested that if I posted the serial number, I might be able to get the low-down on my work of art; so here it is 03X13082

Ellery

David Houck · « **Reply #7 on:** December 27, 2003, 10:19:06 AM »

Perhaps unlike the sales person you dealt with, it seems to me that most of the folks here in this group seem to consider woods for their beauty and their contribution to tone and not whether they are exotic. Of course from the sales person's perspective, compared to the appearance of other basses they stock, perhaps your bass looks very exotic .

senmen · « **Reply #8 on:** December 27, 2003, 01:31:12 PM »

Hi Ellery,
a warmly welcome to the greatest forum on earth.
Great bass you have there....

Many greetings from Germany
Oliver (Spyderman Spyder4 and Spyder8)

dnburgess · « **Reply #9 on:** December 27, 2003, 04:23:07 PM »

Ellery
My guess is that's a walnut top with maple and purpleheart accent layers. Ash body, of course. Val will post the official build record after the break.

Beautiful instrument. Not cheap - but great value for money.

bishopqdog · « **Reply #10 on:** December 27, 2003, 10:27:28 PM »

lowlife, welcome! Man, you guys are gonna make me buy another bass That excel is done right

susan · « **Reply #11 on:** February 07, 2004, 01:16:53 PM »

Hi Ellery,

Welcome to our ever growing Alembic Family.

Yes it is an Excel.
We made some changes/improvements on this model in the last year or so. It is now available with two pickups as you have with the extra laminates. Tummy and elbow shaping topped off with a gloss body and satin neck complete the changes.

Susan

bassman10096 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2004, 06:41:32 AM »

Welcome Ellery,

Cool looking Excel. I am especially curious to know the top wood, bec. it's so pretty. With the enormous variations of available woods, neck & body features and electronics, the same basic model could appear with any number of very distinctive looks. That's just one of the neat things about Alembics (before you even get to the SOUND).

Anyway, a belated welcome to the club! (My Jazz bass has found a new home to help finance Alembics.)

Bill

lowlife · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2004, 05:10:49 AM »

I've seen mentioned that if I post the serial number of my Excel here, someone from the Alembic family might be kind enough to post back the exact details about the build history of my Bass, including the details of the specific laminates. So, here it is: S/N# 03X13082. Knowing the precise origins is (for me, at least) part of the mistique, like a pedigree.

valvil · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2004, 12:31:52 PM »

I'm sorry Ellery,

I thought I had posted the reply a few days ago, but evidently my post did not load; usually I hit the post button and walk away from the computer to do other stuff, I guess last time I got an error message and did not realize what had happened. Anyway, here we go again...

2003 4 string Excel bass
walnut top
maple accent/ purpleheart pinstripe
ash body
pau ferro fingerboad
maple neck with walnut pinstripes
epic electronics with mxy at the neck and fat boy at the bridge
brass hardware
beonze logo
Alembic Gotoh tuners
polyester finish
satin neck
completed 9/9/03
sold through Steve's music in Canada

That's it

Valentino